Garment



A. STORFER Jan. 29, 1957 GARMENT Filed Aug.' 5, 1954 GARMENT Alfred Storfer, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application August 5, 1954, Serial No. 447,962

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-93) This invention relates to garments such as coats, capes and the like which hang from the shoulders.

Such garments have a normal drape and conventionally as they rest upon and hang from the shoulders their weight is distributed along the entire length of the shoulder axes.

It is a well known fact that heavy coats, for example, such as certain types of fur coats, become burdensome to the wearer and it is an object of this invention to design such garments so as in effect to shift their Weight and produce an illusion of lightness and make the garments easier and more comfortable to wear.

It is another object of the invention to eliminate any tendency of such garments to slide oi the shoulders or to slip rearwardly over the shoulders and away from the back of the neck so that the back neck line is too low.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

The invention accomplishes these objects by a redistribution of the gravitational pull of the garments. This redistribution is effected by an alteration in the areas of suspension typical of conventional garments.

The anatomy of the shoulders is such that the leverage ot suspension increases from the neck outwardly. It will therefore be appreciated that the concentration of the weight of suspension inwardly along the shoulder axes will facilitate the support of the garments and produce an effect of lightness.

This invention obtains this result by a unique design or cut of the garments which locates the suspension area of a garment close to the neck of the wearer, progressively relieving the weight from the inner end of the shoulder axes outwardly and, in eect, hooking the garment over the shoulder ridges at the neck so as to resist any tendency of an open front coat, for example, to slip backward when it is worn unbuttoned.

In accordance with this invention the principal suspension points are located on each side of and immediately 'adjacent the neck. The garment virtually if not actually is composed of four panels, two in the rear and two in front. The front panels drape straight down with respect to a front center vertical line and the neck opening is so designed that in the normal drape of the front panels the neck opening snugs the neck over the shoulder axes and around to points immediately in front of those axes. From those points forward the shape of the neck line is immaterial.

The panels on each side, and particularly, the front panels, are so cut and proportioned in their longitudinal dimensions that the vertical zone of each front panel including the neck engaging areas are taut and bears the weight of the garment on that side, while progressively outward the longitudinal proportion is increased relative to the dimension of the figure for which the garment is designed, thus providing a progressive looseness outward of the shoulder axes and relieving the outer portions of the shoulders from the weight of the garment.

This looseness is sucient to take the weight E the nited States Patent O "ice shoulders and how much excess material is provided for the purpose depends of course upon whether padding is to be used. The desired eect is the entire relief of the shoulders from the Weight of the garment and the concentration of the support of the garment in small areas on either side of the neck at the inner ends' of the shoulder axes and immediately in front thereof.

The invention will be understood from the following description of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan of a pattern for a garment of the open front coat type embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view, partially in section, of an incomplete garment cut from the pattern and normally draped on a ligure;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the same;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the same; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the garment abnormally draped.

The body covering portion of the garment comprises four panels, two rear panels 11 and 12 and two front panels 13 and 14. The rear panels are joined 'at a central vertical line 15 which usually is a seam and the front and rear panels meet at the shoulder axial lines 16 and 17 which may or may not be a seam, depending on the shoulder design, and at side lines, possibly seams, 18 and 19.

The garment is shown of the open front type with the front edges overlapping and secured, as by buttons (not shown). The overlapping is shown from right to left although of course this may be reversed. ln the normal drape of the front panels they hang straight down wit-h respect to a center vertical line 20 which is formed by the coincidence of lines 20a and 20b, one in each panel, which lines are non-coincident in the tlat or planar condition of the panels illustrated in Fig. l.

The neck opening 21 is an approximately circular opening formed partially in therear panels and partially in the front panels and symmetrically disposed with respect to the vertical lines 15 and 20 and intersected slightly back of its transverse diametral line by the virtual projections of the axial lines 16 and 17. For a short distance each side of the intersection with the lines 16 and 17 the sides of the neck opening 'are approximately straight and parallel and define the widest part of the neck opening which converges rather sharply at point 22 immediately in front of this widest part. The neck openings thus is shaped and proportioned so that when the garment is on a ligure, as shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the neck opening will it the neck 'at the sides over the shoulder axes and to points immediately in front thereof and the cut of the front panels is such that their weight in their normal drape urges the garment in toward and around the neck at the inner ends of the shoulder axes and said points in front thereof. Those points are numbered 22 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

To clarify this there is shown in Fig. l a basis for comparison of the design of the invention as compared with conventional designs. Shaded areas in the two front panels numbered 23 and 24 represent approximately the additional material required by the design of the invention at the meeting edges of the front panels and about the neck to the shoulder axes and preferably slightly beyond those axes. The conventional coat will be closed by bringing the edges 23a and 24a together or of course an overlap extension may be 'added to those edges as is shown in the illustrated garment. This will then bring the neck to closed position but it will be observed that there is no counterpart to the points 22. In other words, the t at the neck of the conventional garment is accidental and unimportant so far as the drape and suspension of the garment are concerned.

Furthermore when the edges 23a and 24a are together in normal draped condition the garment engages the shoulders with equal stress all 'along the shoulder axes, While with this invention the suspension is concentrated at the inner ends of the shoulder axes and on the collar bone portion of the neck up to points 22. This is by reason of the longitudinal proportions of the front panels.

As indicated in Fig. 1, the progressive looseness from the inner end of the shoulder axes outward is produced by the pattern design which in eiect introduces a wedge shape excess material at the junction of the front and rear panels on both sides, shown as shaded portions 25 and 26 in Fig. 1. These taper to a point at the neck.

Therefore 'at t-he inner end of the shoulder axes there is a narrow zone 27 and 28 on the left and right side, respectively which serves in effect as a suspension strap for the garment, and since the t at the neck is over the shoulder axis at this end and around to the point 22 on e'ach side, the suspension of the garment is at this region and principally at the collar bone area which is shown shaded in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and is numbered 29 and 30 for the left and right sides, respectively. The center of gravity of the front panels is in these respective zones 27 and 28 'and therefore intersects the neck opening at point 22 on each side. Therefore the weight of the fronts tends to hold these regions in to the neck and in eect those regions may be said to hook over the shoulder ridge at the neck on each side and hold the garment irmly against any tendency to slide laterally or slip back. The garment `does in fact resist a downward pull on the back of the garment and the back neck line stays in place during wear.

Outside of the zones 27 and 28 the fullness above explained is provided at the shoulders and the garment is progressively increasingly free of the shoulders `as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. There is therefore no suspension effect on the shoulder outside of the zones 27 and 2S. The weight of the sleeves which are attached at the arm holes may be enough to cause the material to come into actual contact with the shoulders instead of maintaining the spaced relation shown in Figs. 2 and 4, but that fact of course does not alter the absence of suspension effect outside the zones 27 and 28.

As is shown in Fig. 5, if the fronts are pulled together, beyond their normal drape, the shoulder portions will be pulled down into contact all along the axes, but as the fronts are released and allowed to return to their normal drape, as shown in Fig. 2, the looseness on the shoulders is restored.

It will be understood that the illustrated embodiment is shown merely for the purpose of illustration vand that the invention may be embodied in other types of garments.

What is claimed is:

l. A shoulder draped garment proportioned and designed for a conventional figure and having two rear panels meeting at a rear vertical center line and two front panels joining the rear panels at shoulder axial lines and vertical side lines and adapted normally to meet at a front vertical center line and having neck and arm openings, the neck opening being intersected by the shoulder axial lines slightly back of its transverse diametral line and the sides of the neck opening being substantially straight and parallel for a short distance each side of said intersections and having its greatest width at said intersections and converging sharply at a point immediately in front of said parallel side portions and each of said front and back panels having its center of gravity in a vertical line intersecting said point.

2. A shoulder draped garment as deiined in claim 1 having outwardly tapered excess material 'at the shoulder junction of the iront and rear panels on each side providing a progressive fullness from the inner to the outer ends of the shoulder axes and relieving the weight of the garment from the outer portions of the shoulder 'axes when the panels are draped with their centers of gravity in said vertical line.

References Cited in the ijle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,303,477 Hardin May 13, 1919 2,036,013 Berman Mar. 31, 1936 2,675,555 Peronto Apr. 20, 1951r 2,691,167 Oakvik Oct. 12, 1954 

